


State of Ohio / City of Lima -vs- Corcoran, Shelby

by patchfire



Category: Glee
Genre: Gen, Inability to Consent, Not Blaine Friendly, Not Santana Friendly, Ohio Revised Code violations, former Noah Puckerman/Shelby Corcoran, just because it wasn't punished canonically doesn't make it legal, sexual battery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-07
Updated: 2013-11-07
Packaged: 2017-12-31 19:06:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1035323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/patchfire/pseuds/patchfire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone who understands Ohio's law overhearing Puck talking about his sexual involvement with Shelby Corcoran makes a difference.</p>
            </blockquote>





	State of Ohio / City of Lima -vs- Corcoran, Shelby

**Author's Note:**

> As I said offhandedly last night, I have a need to defend all the Pucks. Regardless of his age, Puck in 3x07 could not consent to sex with Shelby, due to her position as a teacher at the school where he was enrolled as a student. That's Ohio state law, even though canon tried to brush it off as no big deal or perhaps even Puck being at fault.

“What was all of that about?” 

“What was all of what about?” Noah’s voice responds, and Carole frowns. 

“All that stuff with Quinn the other day, before Sectionals,” Finn persists. “Rachel said something about getting Quinn not to make a big mistake, and it had something to do with Shelby.” 

Carole’s frown gets deeper, and she holds still in the kitchen, listening to see what’s going on with Noah and Quinn, and the woman that adopted Beth. She can hear Noah sigh before responding. “Remember the day I left school early?”

“Yeah, Artie said you rushed out of math or something.”

“Yeah, well, Shelby called. Beth had gotten hurt,” Noah says, a little more quietly, and Carole leans towards the doorway, to make sure she hears everything. “So I met her at the hospital. Made sure a plastic surgeon did Beth’s stitches,” Noah continues. “Then we took her home. And Shelby and I had sex.” 

Carole covers her mouth to stifle the gasp she lets out. Yes, she knows Noah is eighteen, but her understanding is that Shelby’s a _teacher_. It would still be horrible and clearly taking advantage of Noah if she weren’t a teacher, but since she is, Carole’s almost certain that it’s illegal. She listens as closely as she can to the rest of Noah's conversation with Finn, feeling both saddened and at a loss.

Carole waits a day to question Kurt about Shelby Corcoran’s role at McKinley, a day that she uses to double-check the law in Ohio, and after careful thought, she calls the Lima Police Department, giving them all the information she has: that a teacher at McKinley slept with a student, the teacher’s name, the student’s name, and the other students who have some information, including Finn. Part of her hates to give Finn’s name to the police, as someone with knowledge in a criminal investigation, but she knows she has to. 

After the call is made and the report taken, Carole locks herself in her bedroom and cries a little for the little boy that Finn first befriended. Burt finds her there later, and she slowly tells him the story after both of the boys are asleep. Burt sheds a tear or two himself, and then they wait. 

 

“We need Mr. Puckerman,” the person at the door says after knocking in the middle of math, and Puck frowns, closing his textbook. 

“What did you do?” Artie hisses, and Puck shrugs. 

“I can’t remember anything!” Puck replies, bewildered. He picks up his bag and leaves, getting scared when he sees the badge on the belt of the man at the door. 

“Everything’s going to be fine, son,” the man—probably a detective—says in a kind tone, which confuses Puck even more. The detective puts a hand on Puck’s shoulder, patting it and then guiding him down the hall to Miss Pillsbury's office. She gives Puck a sad smile and leaves the room as Puck’s mom and another man, without a badge, join Puck and the detective. 

“Noah, what’s going on?” Puck’s mom asks, and Puck shrugs. 

“I don’t know,” he admits. 

The detective closes the door and sits down behind Miss Pillsbury’s desk. “Noah. Mr. Puckerman. I know you’re eighteen, and legally an adult, but you’re also still a student, which provides certain legal protections. We received a report yesterday that you may be the victim of sexual assault.” 

“Noah?” Puck’s mom says incredulously. “He’s more likely to commit it!”

“I am not!” Puck says angrily. “I wouldn’t do that. But I’m not a victim, either.” 

“As I said, you’re a student. And one Shelby Corcoran is employed here as a teacher, is she not?” 

Puck knows he looks guilty, and he can’t look at his mom, who is yelling about irresponsibility and her granddaughter and what was that woman thinking and what was Noah thinking? Puck hears the detective talking like the detective and Puck’s mom are at the other end of a long tunnel. It echoes and sounds faint, and Puck frowns, trying to understand what’s happening. The detective is defending Puck, saying that Puck’s the victim, and that’s why the counselor is there with them, and they plan to bring charges against Shelby if enough evidence is found. 

“What about Beth?” Puck interrupts. “Shelby’s her mom. I can’t—”

“We’ll make sure the little girl is taken care of,” the counselor says, speaking for the first time. “Don’t let that stop you from telling us what happened.” 

Puck doesn’t intend to tell them, even with their reassurances, but suddenly he hears himself talking, telling the detective and his mom and the counselor about what happened with Beth falling, having sex with Shelby, and how he told Quinn. He keeps talking, that it’s not the first time an older woman’s wanted to feel younger by having sex with him, and the detective asks for more names. Puck can’t even remember most of them, or he only knows first names if that, but he manages to remember two, which makes the detective oddly pleased. Puck doesn’t know how long he sits there spilling his guts, or how many bells ring. He doesn’t even really notice when the detective and his mom leave, and it’s just he and the counselor. 

Hours must pass, and the counselor writes down his cell phone number on the back of a business card, along with a note ‘9:30 tomorrow’. 

“I’ll write you an excuse from school,” the counselor says. “Noah, I don’t know why you’ve been grossly unserved, but that ends with me today.” 

“Okay,” Puck says, still feeling confused. “I’m still confused.”

“That’s somewhat normal,” the counselor assures him. “That’s what I’m here for.” 

Puck doesn’t talk to his mom or his sister after he gets home. He ignores all the phone calls and texts, and goes to bed early, still feeling confused. The police insist that he’s a victim, that it’s not the first time, and he doesn’t _feel_ like a victim, but he can’t deny that technically, according to their law that they showed him, they’re right. 

He doesn’t go to school the next day. He goes to the counselor’s office, where the counselor talks to him for about thirty minutes before handing him a book and showing him a small room with a couch and a mini-fridge full of pop. Puck sets up with the book reluctantly, but the counselor joins him at lunch and talks about it with him, and Puck reads for another couple of hours before he leaves, driving home the longest way he can think of. 

 

Finn can’t figure out why Puck’s missed a day and a half of school. Finn tries Puck’s phone again, even though every text and call the night before was ignored. Finn can’t help but worry, though, since someone came and took Puck out in the middle of his math class. 

Finn forgets about being worried about Puck and starts to be worried about himself when he heads to glee club after school. There’s a man in a tie and jacket with a badge and a gun on his belt, and Finn frowns. 

“Mr. Finn Hudson?”

“Yeah, that’s me,” Finn says. “Hey, can I ask you about my friend Puck? He isn’t answering his phone, and he wasn’t at school today or most of yesterday.” 

“Noah Puckerman?”

“Yeah. He’s okay, isn’t he?”

“He’s fine,” the man says. “We just need to have a quick chat. Do you know where I could find a Miss Quinn Fabray or a Miss Rachel Berry?”

Finn frowns and points into the glee club meeting. “Quinn should be in there. And, oh yeah, Rachel’s back today. Rachel, too.” 

The three of them are led down another hall and taken into separate classrooms. Finn frowns at the clock, waiting for the detective to come back, but once he finally does, Finn understands. It’s about what Puck told him, about him and Shelby having sex, and at first Finn’s afraid that someone’s trying to get Puck in trouble. 

“No, not at all,” the detective assures Finn. “We’re trying to protect your friend. What happened—Ms. Corcoran was a teacher here. It’s not legal.” 

“Puck wasn’t upset,” Finn starts to say. 

“And it’s good he doesn’t feel traumatized,” the detective says. “But she still took advantage of her position, and we have to investigate it.” 

When Finn finally leaves, Rachel and Quinn are fighting about whether or not it was Quinn who told the police. 

“It wasn’t me,” Quinn insists. “It wasn’t me, because I let you talk me out of it. But I _should_ have. I shouldn’t’ve kept quiet!” 

“But what’s going to happen to Beth!” 

“The little girl will be fine,” the detective says from behind Finn. “Miss Fabray is right, Miss Berry. But thank you to all three of you for your cooperation today.” 

“Yeah, no problem,” Finn says to the detective, heading straight towards his truck. He doesn’t say anything to his mom or Burt or Kurt when he gets home, but then Burt has the news on after dinner. 

“Tonight’s top story is from William McKinley High School, right here in Lima, Rod. A teacher here has been arrested and charged with sexual battery of one of her students. The student in question is eighteen, but because she is a teacher and he’s a student, she’s in violation of the Ohio Revised Code.” 

Finn almost drops his pop, and he goes to the living room doorway to see the story. There’s some background shots of the school, then a picture of Shelby being led out of the school with the same detective that questioned Finn after school. 

“In most cases, we don’t release the alleged victim’s name, but since he is a legal adult, we can report that the student is a senior, a member of the football team and the New Directions glee club, Noah Puckerman.”

“Oh shit,” Finn says under his breath. “Why’d they do that?” 

“She broke the law, Finn,” Burt says sternly. “They have—”

“Not that,” Finn says, waving his hand dismissively. “Why’d they say his _name_?”

 

The crowd in the hall gets completely quiet when Puck walks in the school the next day. Puck frowns at them, and they all turn back to their lockers, but he doesn’t know why they’re all acting so weird. The day off at the counselor’s had been interesting, at least, and Puck has an appointment after school, again. 

“Puck, dude,” Finn suddenly says from right behind Puck. “It wasn’t me.” 

“It wasn’t you wh—oh, yeah, I didn’t figure,” Puck says. “What’s with the weird looks?”

“It was on the _news_ last night,” Finn explains and Puck groans. 

“Seriously? And they just all figured out it was me?”

“You’re eighteen.”

“They said my fucking name.” Puck stops at his locker and sinks into a squat. “That’s just great.” 

“It wasn’t me,” Quinn’s voice says from behind Puck, and Puck shakes his head. 

“Yeah, okay,” Puck says tiredly. 

“It wasn’t Rachel, either,” Quinn continues. 

“I don’t care, okay?” Puck says. He finishes getting into his locker and stands up. “Someone did, the cops know about it, and that’s how it is.” He shrugs. “And apparently the news knows about it, so now the whole town knows about it.” 

All three of them look a little surprised by his attitude. Finn looks more worried, Quinn looks calculating, and Rachel looks like she can’t decide whether to lecture him or counsel him. Puck decides to head as much of it off as he can. 

“My mom’s lectured me, the cops gave me a counselor to talk to, I have all my assignments, I’m fine,” Puck says, shouldering his backpack. “Anything else?”

The girls exchange worried looks, and Puck rolls his eyes, heading down the hall. He’s going to get shit all day, he knows it. People’ll assume he turned her in as revenge for something, a way to get Beth back or for rejecting him. He’d think the same thing, if he didn’t know the truth. 

Puck makes it through the day okay, and none of the teachers let things get too out of hand. After Spanish, though, Mr. Schue holds him back. 

“Puck, these are some serious allegations you’ve brought against Shelby—Ms. Corcoran. Now I know—”

“Wasn’t me,” Puck interrupts. “They already knew when they came to talk to me. I don’t know who called. The girls and Finn say it wasn’t any of them.”

“The girls?”

“Quinn and Rachel. I told Quinn. I guess she told Rachel.” Puck shrugs. “Maybe Shelby turned herself in. I have no fu—freaking clue.” 

“But surely it was—”

“Apparently the fact that I’m a student does make a difference,” Puck points out. “I have to go see my counselor, can I go?”

“You’re seeing a counselor?” Mr. Schue asks, sounding stunned. 

“Yeah, cops thought I should. ‘Alleged victim’, remember? I think he wanted to go after—” Puck cuts himself off at the look on Mr. Schue’s face. “You know what, it’s not important. I’m just gonna go now.” He stands up, feeling strangely disappointed. He never really thought that Mr. Schue was in his corner, not the way he was for Rachel or Finn or a few of the others, but he didn’t expect this. Puck makes a mental note to avoid Ms. Pillsbury for a few days, too, just in case. 

 

Rachel just knew something like this was going to be the outcome, if Quinn told. Quinn swears up and down that it wasn’t her, of course, and Rachel saw the sheer panic in her face when Quinn realized they had broadcast Puck’s name all over Lima. Still, Rachel knew that telling wasn’t going to yield the best of results. 

Shelby is detained, then released on bond, and Rachel is suddenly and selfishly glad that not many people know about her biological relation to Shelby Corcoran. She watches for the next several days as comments are made to Puck, sneers directed at him, and some of the teachers even seem to be treating him differently than Rachel would have expected. She tries to lend her support to Puck, of course, as does Finn, and she even notices Quinn talking to Puck in more gentle tones, but it seems like he’s decided to stoically do it alone and mostly silently. 

Rachel does observe Puck meeting a large black man during a free period at least two different times, going into an empty classroom, and after discussing it with her fathers, concludes it’s probably some kind of city-assigned counselor for victims. Rachel worries over Beth, even though she knows Shelby isn’t in jail and has a large extended family as well. 

Everyone not in New Directions seems to lose interest after the first couple of days, but everyone in New Directions remembers. Rachel isn’t sure that they all would, in fact, except that Santana and Blaine seem to have found their only common ground in making scathing remarks either directed at Puck or clearly about Puck. 

“Some people just can’t handle rejection,” is Santana’s latest offering, seemingly said to Brittany, and a row down and three chairs over, Blaine nods a little. 

“It’s horrible when people don’t _value_ themselves, making poor decisions,” he says, and Rachel isn’t sure who he’s purportedly talking to. Blaine is her good friend, of course, but she thinks this is one time he needs to stay out of it. “And then they feel the need to blame others, even though there’s not really a victim here.”

“You know what?” Puck suddenly says. “Screw you. I didn’t say a word. I don’t know who said it, but it wasn’t me, and it’s really freaking hilarious how I’m automatically the only person at fault.” 

“I don’t think Ms. Corcoran turned herself in,” Santana snipes. 

“You must’ve told _someone_ ,” Blaine says. 

“Fine.” Puck sets his guitar in the seat beside him. Both chairs near him are empty, in fact, and Rachel realizes she can’t remember if anyone’s been sitting near Puck during glee club. “I told two people. Quinn, and Finn.” 

“And Quinn told me,” Rachel speaks up. “But it wasn’t any of us. Whoever called knew to give our names, too.” 

“Someone must have overheard,” Mercedes points out. 

“Yeah, they couldn’t have when—” Puck stops himself. “Nevermind. I know.” 

“What?” Rachel says, along with at least half of the room. 

“I told Finn at his house,” Puck says. 

“I wouldn’t,” Kurt immediately says. 

“No, I know,” Puck tells him, shaking his head. “But your mom would, Finn.” 

“You wouldn’t?” Blaine says to Kurt, sounding equally as upset about Kurt’s statement as he has about the fact that everyone _has_ found out. 

“Oh, crap, yeah, she would.” Finn makes a face at Puck. “Sorry, dude.” 

Puck shrugs. “It’s done.” 

Rachel loses the individual conversations in the loudness of the room as everyone starts talking at once, but she looks over at Puck, who’s also fallen silent. She offers him a small, hopefully supportive smile, and Puck barely manages a half-smile back, along with a shrug. 

When Mr. Schuester walks in a few moments later, interrupting them, Blaine pops up from his seat almost immediately. “Mr. Schuester, Santana and I have been working on a song that we think might make a great song for Regionals.” 

“Wow, thinking ahead,” Mr. Schuester says, but Rachel frowns. Blaine and Santana collaborating sounds like it’s targeted at Puck, as much as she adores Blaine, and the looks of surprise on even Brittany and Kurt’s faces means that they’ve kept the collaboration a surprise. 

 

Finn sees Rachel frown as Blaine gets up, which makes Finn frown. Rachel likes Blaine’s performances, so if she’s frowning, she must be worried about something. When she glances at Puck again, Finn understands, or thinks he does, and he frowns, too. 

The song seems to be about stealing a guy from a girl, which is pretty confusing, since Santana likes girls, and most guys Blaine would be interested in wouldn’t be with a girl. Finn doesn’t understand why they picked the song, even, until about halfway through. 

_Second chances they don't ever matter, people never change._  
 _Once a whore you're nothing more, I'm sorry, that'll never change._

Finn can feel his eyes widen, and he glances over at Puck, whose head is back just a little, almost like someone had slapped him, and Finn suddenly feels more angry at Santana and Blaine than he has all semester. 

When Santana and Blaine finish, Mr. Schue says something to them that Finn misses, mostly because he’s watching Puck pick up his guitar and silently move his hand on the neck, clearly rehearsing some chords. 

“Yeah, I’m gonna play a song,” Puck announces, cutting over Blaine’s response to Mr. Schue. He starts playing, and Finn recognizes it from one of Puck’s Billy Joel albums, but Puck starts singing louder after the first part of the song, singing directly at Blaine.

_I never said you had to offer me a second chance_  
 _I never said I was a victim of circumstance_  
 _I still belong, don't get me wrong_  
 _And you can speak your mind_  
 _But not on my time_

Then he turns on Santana, almost screaming instead of singing. 

_They will tell you you can't sleep alone_  
 _In a strange place_  
 _Then they'll tell you you can't sleep_  
 _With somebody else_  
 _Ah, but sooner or later you sleep_  
 _In your own space_  
 _Either way it's okay_  
 _You wake up with yourself_

_I don't need you to worry for me cause I'm alright_  
 _I don't want you to tell me it's time to come home_  
 _I don't care what you say anymore, this is my life_  
 _Go ahead with your own life and leave me alone_

Puck finishes the song with really looking at anyone else in the room, and Finn looks sideways at Blaine and Santana, who look uncomfortable. 

“Good,” Finn says under his breath, and Rachel looks at him, confused, until she looks over at Santana, and then she nods, looking sad. Everyone else looks uncomfortable, too, but not as badly as Blaine and Santana, and Finn thinks maybe they should look uncomfortable. 

 

By the time winter break is over, Shelby’s case has been settled with a plea agreement or something. Puck didn’t have to testify, no one else had to testify, and Shelby doesn’t go to jail or lose custody of Beth. She’s on probation, though, and won’t teach again, and Puck doesn’t know what he feels about any of it. Mostly he tries to ignore it, even though his counselor doesn’t really let him get away with that. 

The fallout from all of it seems to have affected everyone else more than Puck, at least outwardly. Puck knows he’s changed the way he thinks about things, especially sex and especially freshman and sophomore years, but that’s not exactly anyone else’s business, so they don’t know about it. He probably should talk to Quinn about it, and Finn, too, but everything’s just weird with Mr. Schue proposing and then Quinn being excited about Yale. 

Mostly, Puck sits back and watches. Santana and Blaine still make comments to him, but it’s not every day, and Puck knows now he’s got to make plans to leave Lima. Even people that don’t know him know his name, now, and Puck figures it’ll be a long time before he escapes that. His counselor helps him come up with plans, and even convinces Puck to at least use condoms in the future, consistently. Puck’s not sure he’ll manage that one, but the guy has some good points. 

The biggest surprise, to Puck’s way of thinking, is how something that he thought was just about him, and Shelby, and maybe a little bit Quinn, in the end, has impacted everyone else. Santana and Brittany keep fighting, even though they haven’t broken up, and Kurt and Blaine fight and fight until they break up the week before Valentine’s Day. Each of them claim to have been the instigator of the breakup, which Puck guesses means it was mutual, but he knows at least some of their fights were about Puck, what happened with Shelby, and the fact that if Kurt had overheard, he wouldn’t have told. 

Puck never says it outright, but he appreciates that, just like he appreciates Quinn, Rachel, and Finn not telling. In a weird way, though, he starts to appreciate Carole having told, even the weird apologetic glances he sometimes sees her give him. Not because he thinks Shelby should have lost her job or whatever, but his counselor is a pretty cool guy, and that at least wouldn’t have happened otherwise. Of course, Puck doesn’t tell anyone he has a counselor, not after the way Schue reacted. Puck’s counselor says Puck probably should have had counseling instead of juvie, or at juvie and after juvie, and that Miss Pillsbury should have make sure he and Quinn had counseling sophomore year, too, which sounds like a damn lot of talking to Puck, but since the guy’s been right about almost everything else, Puck accepts that as maybe true, too. 

It isn’t until the week after Regionals that Puck gets a full understanding of how much things changed, just because Carole cared enough to call the police. That’s the biggest change, that Puck understands why she did and can even be glad she did. Puck walks past the teachers’ lounge and hears them discussing some kind of training about sexual harassment and proper behavior around students, which apparently they’ve never had before. Two days later, there’s an assembly about sex and harassment and consent, which Puck’s pretty sure his counselor put together, even if he doesn’t actually see him there, because the slides are worded just like the things his counselor says. 

The biggest change, though, is in New Directions itself. Santana’s comments have dropped down to infrequent, Blaine is nearly silent on all issues, and the weirdest but welcomest change is that Puck can’t remember the last time he was sitting alone during rehearsal.


End file.
